The Empire Called and I Answered

Thursday, August 10, 2017

A member of 2 Battalion writing a letter in the mud at Flesselles, November 1916 (AWM E00030)

John Dale, a butcher of Maribyrnong, passed through Flesselles in November 1916 as a very bitter winter descended on the Western Front. Rod Martin again looks at the overall progress of the war through the experiences of one soldier, Private John Walter Dale.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Stephen Fanner was rejected for service with the AIF owing to defective eyesight, but he enlisted for Home Service with the Domain Guard, where he served for 834 days between 14 August 1916 and 22 November 1918 when he was discharged at his own request. Stephen was also an officer of the Salvation Army, and as a Salvation Army bandsman, probably played with the Domain Military Band while he was a Guard at the Domain Camp. Stephen and his three brothers, including recently mentioned George Fanner, appeared on the Kensington Salvation Army Roll of Honour.

Thursday, July 13, 2017

This painting by Septimus Powers depicts the 3rd and 4th Australian
Divisions in the Somme battlefield. Infantry, supported by horse drawn artillery and two British
Mark IV male tanks, moves towards front line, part of the
allied offensive of 8 August 1918, the day that became known to the
Germans as 'der schwartze Tag' (the black day).

George William Fanner was part of the 3rd Division and took part in this battle, and others. Rod Martin outlines George's part in the defeat of Germany in 1918, and the cost. Go to the Empire Called website to read about George Fanner and the 37 Battalion.

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

A few weeks ago I gave a talk at the Flemington Library which was obscurely called 'Diversity in the AIF'. This title was not of my choosing, and I won't make any further reference to it. The talk contained some background of events that had implications for Australian families with foreign surnames. This introduction was followed by a Powerpoint presentation with some examples of young men in the AIF with foreign surnames. I spoke to the Powerpoint without notes. I have since edited it to make it more self-explanatory. At the bottom of this post I have included the links to the soldiers' pages in The Empire Called and I Answered if you wish to follow them further. When I have more time I will try and write it up more coherently. In the meantime, the Powerpoint can be found here: Stories of the Home Front.

From
1916, German and Austro-Hungarian residents of Australia were forced to
register with the police. A fear of possible German-Australian 'conflicted
loyalties' led to several regulations under the War Precautions Act 1914,
such as forbidding German-Australians to leave Australia or send money
overseas. These immigrants, naturalised subjects and Australian-born people,
rapidly moved in the Australian consciousness to 'enemy aliens'.

German clubs and Lutheran schools were closed, German place names were
changed and community leaders were interned in order to deprive
German–Australians of their spokesmen in the mainstream public sphere of
Australian society.Honorary German
Consuls (as opposed to official members of the German diplomatic mission),
usually prominent German–Australian businessmen residing in the capital cities
of the different states, were all interned. The government firmly believed they
were working in alliance with the Lutheran clergy on behalf of the Imperial
German government.

Correspondence in the National Archives makes it plain that while the
government could not possibly intern every person of German ancestry, they
could arrest some prominent Germans to make an example and appease the general
population.

In South Australia, Consul Hermann
Mücke, was briefly interned during April 1916 and subsequently detained in his
home in Adelaide under military guard. At the same time, his youngest son,
Francis Frederick, was serving with the Australian Imperial Forces in France
after being wounded at Gallipoli.

It is worth mentioning that numbers of
Irish ‘Home Rule’ proponents were also interned.

British law specified that a married
woman's nationality was always that of her husband, and accordingly, a woman
acquired her husband's civic status and lost her own upon marriage.If her husband at any time altered his
nationality by naturalisation, her civic status also changed. The
Naturalization Bill 1903 was consistent with British law on this point, and it
included a prohibition on the naturalisation of married women.

As
the war progressed and propaganda about the 'Hun' German continued, the
pressures on German-Australians increased. Many lost their jobs or found their
communities no longer safe. Internment without charge or trial was implemented
around Australia. In 1915 all internees were moved to the Holsworthy camp at
Liverpool, NSW. By 1918 nearly 7 000 men, women and children were interned by
the Australian Government. Some were interned voluntarily after they were no
longer able to support their families; others were German settlers deported
from former German colonies in the Pacific; others still were working class men
who had been born in Australia to a German father or grandfather. The aim of
internment was to protect Australians and the Australian war effort from
'disaffected and disloyal' 'enemy aliens'.

While the internment process was to a
large extent improvised and capricious, there were nevertheless distinct policy
objectives. The Commonwealth government had announced early in the war that
destitute enemy alien males could volunteer for internment if lacking any
prospect of being able to pay for their livelihood. Their families, after being
means-tested, were granted a small allowance.

The internment system thus developed
into a tool of social control. It was used to segregate and, after the war, to
exclude undesirable residents not only because of their ethnic origin but also
because of their poor socioeconomic status. Internees who had been imprisoned
because they were considered mentally weak were similarly singled out.

At the conclusion of the war over
60% of internees were deported from Australia, any naturalised subjects having
had their naturalisation revoked. They had no recourse to judicial appeal and were expelled from the country they had lived in for most or all of their
lives.

Henry was named in a supplementary list of men of German birth or
descent working in Defence positions, which was then published in the
newspapers.

The remarks of the investigators were “Adjutant-General's Branch —
Warrant Officer [Class 2] H. Kaufman, military staff clerk, pay £210 per year.
Returned soldier A.I.F.. gained rank of captain in field. Father born in
Germany and arrived in Australia 1852, died in 1911; mother, English
woman, born in London”.

Naturalised Huns in High Places

Whose is the Hidden Hand Which Protects Them ?

(For "THE GRAPHIC")

The determined interrogation of Mr.
Finlayson, a Queensland Labour M.P., regarding persons of enemy descent in the
Defence Department, has borne fruit. Mr. Finlayson last week drew attention to
the fact that the official return, published in "The Graphic, of persons
of enemy association in the Defence Department, was confined to the lower paid
officials, while the higher salaried men were not mentioned.

Mr. Finlayson added
that he knew of several men in the higher grades of the service whose names
didn't appear in the list, and who had lately received promotion. The Assistant
Minister of Defence (Mr. G. H. Wise) has since laid upon the table of the House
a supplementary return, which embraces the following cases: —

With regard to
enemy descent, the replies were: —

Military Board of
Administration: Brigadier-General V. C.
M. Sellheim, C.B., C.M.G., A.D.C., to the Governor-General. Adjutant
General, pay £725 a year, allowances £100 a year, returned soldier, served in
both this and South African wars. His father, who is understood to have been an
Austrian, was Under-Secretary for Mines in Queensland, arrived in Australia
nearly 70 years ago, and was naturalised; he died in October, 1899. His mother
was English, having been the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Morisset, of the
48th Regiment.

Adjutant General's Branch — Warrant-Officer (class 2),H.
Kaufman, military staff clerk, pay £210 a year, returned soldier A.I.F.,
gained the rank of captain in the field, father born in Germany, and arrived in
Australia 1852; died in 1911; mother English, born in London.

The Graphic, published in
Melbourne, went on in this article to vilify people of German descent, even
where a parent had been naturalised many decades ago, and accuse them of
disloyalty, citing a handful of British cases where person of German birth or
descent had been tried and found guilty of providing information to the
enemy. Whether those cases would stand up to scrutiny now is a question
that might be asked. Many of the other newspapers which published the
supplementary list including Henry’s name made no further commentary, perhaps
believing that Henry’s war record made any further comment unnecessary. The
Graphic commented that “It is usually forgotten that 'loyalty' is the
favourite camouflage of the naturalised Hun.” No amount of service to
Australia would fool them, it would seem.

It is interesting to note that none of the men named in this
supplementary list were accused of changing their names to hide their German
origins. It is in fact notable how many men with German origins served
faithfully in the AIF without attempting to obscure their origins. It was
not until 1917,under the War
Precautions Act, that people “of enemy descent” were prevented from changing
their names.It wasn’t unusual for
families with German surnames to suffer from verbal or physical attacks on the
home front, no matter how accepted they might be in the AIF. Sometimes
just a “foreign” name would suffice.

The hurt and anxiety caused to the Kaufmans at this time must have been
considerable, and probably frightening for May caring for young children. The
newspaper story indicates that the report was not the end of the matter.
The list of names had been referred to a Commissioner who would enquire into
the matter. Henry may have been required to appear before a panel, perhaps.
Several reports on his war service appear in his file from May 1918.
There is nothing in his file to indicate the outcome of the enquiry, nor did
any statement exonerating Henry from the implication of disloyalty get
published in the Melbourne newspapers. The Kaufmans had to wear the
opprobrium.

Henry’s job doesn’t appear to have been in question from the Department's point of view, and he remained
working for the Commonwealth government until the further outbreak of war in
1939. Henry (and his brother John) volunteered again at the age of
55.

John Vosti’s daughter Nan Lee told me
of an incident when the family arose one morning to find a placard nailed to
the front fence reading “These people are
Germans”.The family was very upset
by the incident.Nan also recalled that
her sister Beatrice Vosti was picked on at school by pupils who believed that
she was German, a belief which originated with her teacher who announced this
“fact” to the class.Allan Vosti
recalled being told that stones were sometimes throw on the roof, accompanied
by yells from the street.

Nance Vosti’s sister, Adeline Keating,
had begun to work for Myer during the war, and moved into the toy department
when there was a huge movement to stop trading with German companies. German
dolls and other toys had been hugely popular before the war, and in the end
Addie benefitted from this anti-German sentiment by being sent to Japan, the
first woman buyer to travel overseas, to buy Japanese toys. There was an active branch of the
Anti-German League in Moonee Ponds. Throughout the war.Some local identities refused to have
anything to do with this organisation.Another cause for division.

OTTO PLARREOtto was not a soldier but a Moonee Ponds businessman. Otto
Plarre had emigrated in 1909 with three other German pastrycooks – they aimed at
getting as far away from Germany as they could.They became naturalised in 1912 and 1913.Otto married Leisl Gabsch, born in Melbourne
to German parents, and over the next few years they had three children, and
established a thriving business in Puckle Street.

“Otto and Liesl Plarre found
themselves the target of considerable anti-German sentiment.This negative reaction from the community grew
steadily as the war progressed with many customers refusing to buy Otto’s
cakes.Those who continued to shop at
Plarre’s were often harassed outside the store, even accosted and dragged out
once they were inside.Otto was
beginning to fear for his young family and considered packing the horse and
dray and ‘going bush’ until the war was over. … Tensions escalated to the point
where, in 1918, just after the November Armistice, the cake shop in Puckle
Street was vandalised.A brick was
hurled through the window, smashing into the shop.”

However,
I note that throughout the war Otto and his business was mentioned in the Essendon Gazette from time to time,
generally expressing approval of his catering, and both Otto and Liesl were
mentioned in connection with patriotic fundraising donations, including the
Welcome Home committees.He couldn’t
have stayed in business without support from the local community.The Plarres are still active members of our community.

A short film about the people of
German descent at Westgarthtown near Epping in Victoria. It encapsulates
the problems caused by xenophobia during WW1. It is narrated by Adam
Zwar. It runs for 16 minutes and is well worth the time spent.

The examples I have given of
families with German or ‘foreign’ surnames illustrates the dangers of
making blanket assumptions about individuals about whom nothing is known, but
based merely upon their name.In current
times there are those who make blanket assumptions about other folk people
based upon their religion, or their place of birth, or their colour.If anyone offers any threat to Australia,
that threat needs to be taken seriously, and dealt with on an individual basis,
but it does our country no service to condemn a whole people without enquiry,
without trial.

Governments are only
too willing to remove people’s rights, and we had best be careful in case they
are our rights.We should be vigilant
to preserve what vestiges of freedom and democracy remain to us, and not be
willing to give them up because of fear-mongering.We lost a lot back in 1914 to 1918, not the
least of which was the vibrant German community which had so much to offer in
culture and hard work.We need to learn
those lessons and not forever repeat them.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Samuel Gaudie and the 5th Infantry Battalion landed at Gallipoli on day one. Gaudie remained there until he returned to Lemnos in October 1915 though the reason is not clear from the records. The troops were quite debilitated by exposure and disease by that time, and many were evacuated for a rest, or to recover from disease. Sam seems to have decided he liked it on Lemnos, and disappeared. He may have found someone to shelter him in the Greek village of Castro on the island, which would have been delightfully human after the horrors of Gallipoli. He probably just didn't want to return. It set a pattern for the next few years. You can read the story of Sam's misadventures, as told by Rod Martin.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Ern Latchford as a member of the 6th Australian Infantry Regiment, aged 18, seen in the back row, second from the left. His friend Rupert Holden is in the back row far right. Taken at Lancefield Junction, 1907.

Officers of the Area 58B (Ascot Vale) Instructional Staff, taken early in 1914 at the Melbourne Showgrounds. Ern is in the back row, second from the right. Compare this with a very similar photo on this page.

In 1907 Ernest Latchford was an enthusiastic member of the Volunteer militia camped at Lancefield Junction with the 6th Australian Infantry Regiment. In 1910 he applied for a position with the Instructional Staff whose role it was to train the thousands of new Senior Cadets produced under the new system of compulsory military training for boys. By 1914 Ern had arrived at the Area 58B Ascot Vale Senior Cadets as Staff Sergeant Major Ernest Latchford. At that link you will find a series of photos showing Ern's progress from the age of 18 to 28, when he was permitted to join the AIF, and later as a Commissioned as an officer with the 38 Inf Battalion. The photos come to use courtesy of Mark Latchford.

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

A bugler and piper in the commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial PAIU2013/044.04

The names listed in the Last Post Calendar are those whose stories are told at the daily
Last Post Ceremony at the Memorial. The names are listed in order of the
day on which their story was or will be told. Individuals are commemorated in a series of videos at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra every day. The list stretches back to 2013.

At the end of each day, commencing at 4.55 pm AEDT, the Memorial
farewells visitors with its moving Last Post Ceremony. The ceremony
begins with the singing of the Australian National Anthem, followed by
the poignant strains of a lament, played by a piper. Visitors are
invited to lay wreaths and floral tributes beside the Pool of
Reflection. The Roll of Honour in the Cloisters lists the names of more
than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other
operations over more than a century. At each ceremony the story behind
one of these names is told. The Ode is then recited, and the ceremony
ends with the sounding of the Last Post.

One of the soldiers commemorated in this ceremony was Louis Henry Salamito, who fell on 20 September 1917. The video of the ceremony commemorating Louis can be found on this link.A family member must apply about 12 months in advance of a given date and
submit materials which is then researched by an AWM historian and
written up. Such ceremonies will only last for the
centenary duration of the great war, i.e. so 2014-2018.

If there are any other videos commemorating local soldiers, please let me know so I can put a link on their webpage.

Thank you to Greg Salamito for alerting me to this feature of the AWM website.

Nominated by the National Library of Australia for perpetual preservation in the Pandora Archive

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About Me

I am a community historian (ie, not paid) from Essendon. The content of my Empire Called database (see the link to the PBWorks website) is the result of nearly 25 years' research. The Empire Called blog is a companion for the PBWorks website of the same name.
Time Travellers in Essendon and Flemington is set up in the same way, with a website and a blog to report additions to the website. The website is a vehicle to publish longer pieces of research that are too long for newsletters, various indexes, and photos of local history interest. You may find something of use for your research.